Naruto: Summoner of the Six Paths
by Mitobu
Summary: Naruto performs the Kuchiyose jutsu before he signs the toad contract and summons someone long thought to be dead.
1. Chapter 1

**Naruto: Summoner of the Six Paths**

**By: Mitobu**

*** I do not own Naruto. ***

Chapter 1_**  
**_**Kuchiyose No Jutsu**

Jiraiya watched as Naruto defeated the last of his many shadow clones. He had told him to use up most of his chakra so he could learn the summoning jutsu. "Looks like you finally used up most of your chakra. I will now teach you the move then." Naruto cheered at finally getting to learn his newly found teacher's jutsu "First, I'll show you. Watch carefully." The toad sage declared. He bit his thumb, swiped the blood onto his palm and swiftly ran through a short series of hand signs, slamming his hand onto the ground, he shouted "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" In a puff of smoke, an orange toad with blue markings as large as him appeared beneath his feet with a scroll wrapped in its tongue.

"That was cool!" Naruto watched in amazement. He quickly bit his thumb and ran through the hand seals, and pumped as much chakra into the jutsu as he could.

"Wait Naruto, performing that jutsu without signing a summoning contract is risky!"

Not hearing Jiraiya's plea, Naruto slammed his hand onto the ground and shouted, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." Both Naruto and Jiraiya stared at the figure that appeared from the clearing smoke.

There, sitting with a meditating posture, was a man wearing a white sage cloak with a circle containing a ripple pattern on the upper back and nine magatama below it. His hair was white, which betrayed his otherwise youthful looking face despite it being quite pale. But even though he seemed to be physically young, it was evident that he had wisdom and power beyond his appearance. His eyes were closed, his arms were in a relaxed position and he had a relaxed look to him, almost as if he was at peace.

As he sat there seemingly meditating, his skin began to gain color, and vitality seemed to flow into him. That's when Jiraiya saw something apparently nonexistent. something that only someone with years of training to notice the smallest of details could notice. What seemed to be bringing the color was in fact miniscule kanji radiating from what looked like every cell. Once as the kanji all dispelled, the man began to stir from his meditating position. "Where am I?" He asked with a voice that sounded as though it had not been used in a long time, yet still exuded power. This caused the two staring shinobi to come out of their stupor.

"This the land of fire," Naruto answered with his normal excitement, "More precisely, we're a couple miles away from Konohagakure."

"Konoha?" The man asked more to himself than to the two ninja and toad standing a few feet away from him. His eyes opened for the first time, revealing the same ripple pattern as the one on the back of his cloak. This shocked the toad sage. He was looking at eyes believed to be nothing more than a myth. And this person wasn't the first he'd seen with that legendary dojutsu. As he recollected his deceased pupil, Naruto studied the newcomer. He didn't quite understand it, but he felt as though he could trust this person. It was like how he felt when around the sandaime, Kakashi or his latest sensei.

"Hey kid, what's your name?" The strange man asked, his curiosity finally taking hold.

"Uzumaki Naruto" Naruto proudly proclaimed, "And this is Ero-Sennin"

"I'm pleased to meet you Naruto-san, and you too Erosennin-sama"

"You don't need to use an honorific" Naruto chuckled from the man calling Jiraiya Erosennin.

"MY NAME IS NOT EROSENNIN!" Jiraiya began to do his introduction pose atop his still-summoned toad, "I am Myouboku Mountain's Monk of the Frog Spirits. Also known as the Frog Hermit. Jiraiya!"

"Ok Jiraiya. Naruto, might I ask, how did you summon me?"

"Well, this guy" Naruto said while poking his head towards the Toad Sage, "Was teaching me a new technique, the summoning jutsu. He said something about signing a contract but I was already performing the jutsu. And that's when you appeared."

"Alright, I'm gonna do something that doesn't happen very often" biting his finger and pulling up Naruto's shirt, he began to draw out a seal with his blood. Reacting to the chakra, Naruto's Eight Trigrams seal surfaced. "Well. This should be interesting." Jiraiya and Naruto watched as he continued drawing out the seal, interweaving it with the already existing seal. Once it was finished the man simply smiled at Naruto. "Fuin" Said the man as he dissolved into the newly drawn seal that seemed very similar to the previously existing one.

**End Chapter**

**This was my first time writing fanfiction, not sure how good I did. Sorry if the ending was a bit confusing but it'll be explained in the next chapter.**

**If you have any questions/comments, I'd like to get some feedback. Ill try to answer as many questions as I can. Don't know how long it'll take to write another chapter since I wrote because I was bored and my mind was overflowing.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Naruto: Summoner of the Six Paths**

By: Mitobu

*** I do not own Naruto. ***

Chapter 2  
Memories

"Ero-Sennin, what just happened?" A confused Naruto asked.

"I don't know, but I've got a feeling it will be something huge" The astonished toad sage replied. "Do you think you should continue learning the kuchiyose no jutsu?"

Naruto was about to answer when he heard a strange voice in his head. It told him that it was okay to sign the summoning contract. Deciding to trust the man, he replied to Jiraiya saying that he wanted to continue.

On cue, the toad that had sat by throughout the encounter dropped the large scroll still wrapped in its tongue, obviously tired from holding it up for this long. Unrolling the scroll, Naruto saw the names and fingerprints of other ninjas. Jiraiya gestured toward the next free space. "Sign your name and put your fingerprints there with your blood." Naruto quickly drew some blood from his hand and signed his name. He then put the blood on his fingertips and pressed it into the free space.

"Now let's test out the jutsu." Jiraiya said. Wasting no time, Naruto performed the technique. As the smoke cleared, a small tadpole was revealed. "Well, It's a start. How about we call it a day." Jiraiya concluded.

"Okay" Naruto said, clearly disappointed at not getting to practice more.

"I'll make it up to you. Let's go relax at the hot springs and we can try to learn a bit more about our new friend. Also, we probably shouldn't tell anyone about what happened today"

"Yea, at least for now"

As the two walked away from their training location, the new inhabitant of Naruto was speaking with his existing resident.

**Inside the Seal**

** "Who dares to intrude upon my slumber" **A grumpy Kyuubi shouted. It had sensed the seal being tampered with earlier that day when someone removed a part of the seal. Perhaps this person was the culprit. "**Get over here so I may tear you to shreds."**

"Has it really been so long since we were together that you don't recognize me anymore." The strange man said while appearing in front of the cage.

The Kyuubi quieted at this. This mans voice had the power to calm even a bijuu filled with fury and hatred. **"Who are you? Why did you seal yourself into this wretched prison? Do you not value your own freedom? And what do you mean that I don't remember you?!"** The usually quiet Kyuubi was filled with curiosity from the statement of it not remembering this newcomer. Kyuubi then saw a metallic glint in the mans eyes, but passed it off as nothing.

The man said something that would change the Kyuubi forever. "You've gotten bigger. Kurama."

Kurama moved its large head to get a closer look at this person who strangely knew its name and saw that it was not mistaken a few moments earlier. This man looked strangely similar to the Rikudou Sennin. And the thoughts connected. He didn't just look like the Sage of the Six Paths, he was the Sage of the Six Paths. **"Hagoromo-sama?! How are you alive? I was there when you died!"**

The sage chuckled at Kurama's rare use of respect. "Weren't you the cunning one? Did you think I didn't have a plan when I split the Juubi into you and the other eight." The now titled Rikudou Sennin playfully winked. "Long before I made myself into the jinchuriki of the Juubi, I wrote a seal onto myself. When my life is no longer present the seal would activate and, using my Naraka Path, the King of Hell would be summoned to bring me back to life."

Kyuubi nodded in understanding but then thought of something. "**Then why ****didn't**** you resurrect once you died."**

"As you know, life is no longer present when your chakra is completely gone" Kyuubi nodded and the Sage continued "The seal still requires chakra to function. So I made it so that once my body was completely immobile, it would collect and use the spirit energy that your body contains before your soul leaves."

** "****Spirit energy? I don't remember you telling us about that."**

"Spirit energy is a very strange form of chakra. Even I don't fully understand it. But what I know is that it isn't like normal chakra."

**"How so?"**

"Spirit energy is different as it can't be trained. Though it can be strengthened." Kyuubi had a confused look.  
**"Then how does someone strengthen it if not by training"**

"Spirit energy is based on emotions and determination. When someone has what people call guts, their spirit energy is highly powerful"

**"So that's how...****"**** Kyuubi thought.**

The Sage continued, "Once I was resurrected, I drew a time-space seal on myself to put me in a pocket dimension where I would not age. In this time, I've been practicing and meditating" The Sennin concluded his explanation."

**"****Then why have you sealed yourself into this child?" **Kurama questioned.

"My time has passed so I'm not going to interfere too much with the world anymore. And the reason I chose little Naruto was because he has the potential to surpass even myself, and I wish to help him achieve that potential."

Kurama listened in awe. He knew Naruto was strong and had a ton of potential, but stronger than the Rikudou Sennin?

**At the Hot Springs**

"Ahhhh" The pair sighed in relief, welcoming the relaxing heat of the water. Jiraiya and Naruto had gotten to the hot springs to ease the days tensions. Jiraiya groaned as his muscles relaxed and he sunk deeper into the water. Naruto quickly followed suit and felt his muscles relax.

"Now. How about we try to learn a bit about your new occupant" The toad sage queried.

"Are you sure, this is a pretty public place"

"Don't worry, I made sure to get a secluded spot for us"

"If you say so" Naruto ran through the hand signs for the summoning jutsu and, as if by instinct, placed it on his stomach where the seal was.

Particles seemed to flow from the seal to form the figure from earlier, sitting on a nearby rock. "Hello Naruto, Jiraiya" The man said nodding to both of them in turn. "Is there something you'd like to know?"

"I was thinking that since you're going to be living in me, I might as well know a bit about you"

"If that is what you want" the man answered. "May I join you" he asked, gesturing to the hot spring.

"Of course" Jiraiya replied, leaning back against a surprisingly comfy rock.

The stranger took his time joining the two, still unaccustomed to moving. After settling in he looked towards Naruto and asked what he wanted to know.

"Do you have a name?"

"Roku" The man smiled. Naruto returned the grin.

"So why did you seal yourself into me?"

Roku looked as though he was choosing his words carefully, and he was. "I will tell you exact details when we are alone" he said glancing at Jiraiya, to which he dejectedly nodded in understanding. "But for now I will tell you a few things. One, the technique I used can only keep me alive for so long. So I needed to seal myself into someone or something to make it so I can continue living. Think of it like a container" At this, Roku scooped up some of the water and poured it onto the nearby dirt and watched it soak in. "Without a container, the water will slowly go away. The same goes with a soul. If I didn't find something to sustain my life quick enough, I surely would have died." Naruto nodded, signifying he was keeping up. "Second, I had to seal myself into something that compatible with me. Your high chakra capacity and developing body let me do so." Naruto smiled at this but didn't ask any questions. "And finally, I see great things in you."

Naruto became slightly giddy from this and gave a grin. The man continued to relax in the soothing waters and let his mind wander. He hadn't had a good rest since long before he "died" and he was going to enjoy this while it lasted. Closing his eyes, he began to meditate and collect the natural energies to replenish the seals around his body, each glowing as it filled with the chakra. Naruto and Jiraiya watched as seals glowed then disappeared all over his body. Soon 6 megatama appeared on his chest, each glowing a different color. Red, gray, blue, yellow, green and black and each had a small white spot. The duo watched in awe at the intricate sealing patterns that seemed layered upon eachother. Jiraiya was especially awestricken because even he hadn't seen some of the seals before.

"Can you explain those seals?" Jiraiya inquired

"They are essentially seals that hold spare chakra, should I run out they release and replenish my reserves." the toad sage widened his eyes, as he did not know of any seals that could store chakra for later.

After a few minutes of idle chatting, Roku began to dissolve back into the seal. "Looks like my time that I can be outside of the seal is up. Until my body is completely regenerated, this is the most time I can be out."

"Alright. It was fun talking with you, and I look forward to being your container" Naruto gave his usual smile as the man finished dissolving. He then turned to his sensei and asked "Can we get something to eat?"

The hermit chuckled. Leave it to Naruto to change the subject to food at a moments notice. "I bet he got that from your wife Minato"

Smiling, the two shinobi left the hot springs to fill their growling stomachs.


	3. Chapter 3

**Naruto: Summoner of the Six Paths**

By: Mitobu

*** I do not own Naruto. ***

Chapter 3

Naruto laid in his bed thinking of what happened the previous night. He had learned the summoning jutsu and summoned a person whom he learned to be named Roku. And not even a minute after he met him, the guy drew over his existing containment seal and dissolved into it. But it wasn't bad, if anything it was exciting. Naruto was in no way a sensor-nin, but even he could tell this person was powerful, and was glad he seemed to be a kind, understanding person looking over at his sensei's empty bedspread. He looked towards the balcony and saw the hermit leaning over the balcony in deep thought.

"Ero-sennin, what are ya doin?"

"Just, reflecting."

"Think we can work on the kuchiyose technique?"

"Maybe this afternoon Naruto. I'm still pretty shocked after yesterdays events. Anyway, I think I'll go clear my head and do some research, my books aren't going to write themselves"

Naruto gave a disapproving glare at his teacher, knowing just what that "research" was.

"Here, take this pebble and stick it to your body with your chakra and keep adding pebbles until you can get ten all at once." With that, the toad sage jumped off the balcony into the streets down below.

Naruto grumbled a bit, but placed the pebble on his forehead and stuck it there. "That's strange, I thought it'd be tougher to do." He thought to himself. Grabbing another pebble, he stuck it to his cheek. It wasn't nearly as tough as he was expecting. Confused, he grabbed another pebble and stuck it to the back of his hand, and all three little rocks stayed where he stuck them. He continued adding pebbles and quickly reached ten. The blonde was surprised at this and got an idea to test a thought in his head.

Standing up, he went to the wall, focused chakra on his feet and walked up the wall, still keeping all of the stones in place. He continued walking until he reached the roof. There was uncertainty on his face since this would be his first time trying this, but it would take a lot more than a little uncertainty to make him not attempt something. Placing his foot on the ceiling, he walked out to above his bed. Better safe than sorry. He sat upside down on the roof and was extremely baffled at this new found chakra control. Just yesterday he could barely begin to walk on water, and now he was sitting upside down on the ceiling, all while keeping ten pebbles stuck to himself. As if answering his questions, he heard a voice in his head telling him to close his eyes and focus on his thoughts. Deciding he could trust the voice, Naruto closed his eyes and focused

**_Naruto's Mindscape_**

Naruto's eyes flickered open to see he was in a place like a sewer. Being here a few times before, he had an idea of where he was. Walking down the corridor, just letting his feet lead the way, he came to a gate that he felt was rather new. Not knowing why, the orange-clad ninja reached out and opened the gate. Stepping inside he looked at the room. It looked very serene and had a small pond with an island in the middle. The island had a single tree that seemed to be almost bursting with life. And sitting at the base of it was Roku. He seemed to be at peace and was staring at the calm water. A pleasant wind blew through the tree and ruffled his hair. It was still white but had a silver hue to it.

Looking up from the pond, Roku's rippled eyes met with Naruto's. He gave a welcoming expression, which Naruto took as an invitation to join him. Walking across the water to the island, he sat in the lush grass next to the man. Both sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the presence of eachother. Naruto felt a gentle heat radiating from the tree behind him. It seemed as though all of life's tensions were melting away and he felt like a certain Nara clan member, without a care in the world. But then he remembered why he came into his mind.

"So why did you guide me into here?" Naruto asked.

"You had a question that only I'd be able to answer"

Naruto felt a bit puzzled, but then recalled what he wanted to know, "Why is my chakra control so good. Just a few days ago I wouldn't even be able to stick a single pebble to myself, but now I can do ten of them and sit upside down, all while entering my thoughts. Does this have something to do with you being sealed into me?"

"It's a side effect of the seal. Until your body becomes accustomed to my presence, it'll use some of my chakra in whatever you do."

"So the chakra control I have at the moment is pretty much your chakra control?"

"More or less. Its still very unrefined and you can't exactly manipulate it just yet. Probably doesn't help your control having more chakra than your body can handle. It's like trying to hold back a waterfall with a load of paper. It's going to break through sooner or later." Roku looked at Naruto and smiled "But that's where I come in." His face became serious as he looked the young ninja in the eye. "Uzumaki Naruto, will you have me as your sensei and friend?"

Naruto's jaw dropped. No one had ever asked to teach him. Giving the biggest smile he could create.  
"Is that a yes?" The blonde couldn't form words, so he did the next best thing and nodded. "Then when do you want to begin?"

"It's only morning so how about we start now?"

Roku nodded in agreement.

"Can we not tell the Ero? I want him to be surprised by my improvement."

"Sounds like a plan. We should work on your chakra control while you're still using mine so you know what it's supposed to feel like."

**_Later that day_**

Jiraiya stumbled through the door of their hotel room. He had a long day of "research" and was ready for bed. Looking around he saw Naruto meditating. But that's not what got his attention, rather it was that Naruto was meditating upside down on the ceiling. Naruto's eyes then flew open and he fell to the bed headfirst.

"Itai! Oh, hey Pervy Sage"

"What's going on here?"

"I'm training my chakra control" Naruto happily grinned.

The hermit held a puzzled look at seeing how well Naruto could control his chakra. But it was late and he was ready to pass out. Even with his tolerance of alcohol, the amount of sake he drank could probably make Tsunade pass out. Trudging to his bed, he dropped onto it and was immediately asleep.

Naruto sighed at his teacher. It wasn't anything new but it did get old. Resuming his meditating, he soon heard his new instructor's voice in his mind. "You're making a ton of progress young one. You can almost do this without my help." Chuckling from the praise, the young ninja basked in the feeling of approval.

"Do you think I will be strong enough to pass my chunin finals in a few weeks?"

Startled from Naruto's alteration in mood he answered. "Naruto, tomorrow I want you to go into the forest."

"Why, is there something there that I need?" Naruto mentally asked.

"You could say that. It will help further your training. And I promise, by the end of these two weeks, you'll pass the finals much more easily."

"What will we be doing?"

"We are going to find you."

"Find myself? How so?"

"You'll find out in the morning. This is going to take a week or two, so make sure you tell Jiraiya so he doesn't think something happened."

Resigning to Roku's words, Naruto ceased meditating and gave in to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Naruto: Summoner of the Six Paths**

By: Mitobu

*** I do not own Naruto. ***

**Chapter 4**

Naruto yawned awake. Looking towards the hermits bed, he saw that he was meditating on his bed, no sign of a hangover from the previous night was present on his face, though you could tell from his matted clothes and hair that he hadn't been awake for long.

"Jiraiya-Sensei?"

Surprised from the blondes use of his actual name instead of his nickname got the mans attention. "What is it Naruto?"

Naruto gazed out the window thinking of how he'd tell his sensei what his new inhabitant had wanted him to do. Gaining some resolve he turned to the white haired man. "Sensei, you know how I want to become stronger so I can pass the chunin exams?"

"What about it gaki?"

"Well, I was wondering if you'd let me go on my own for about two weeks?"

Crying anime style tears, the toad sage replied, "You don't need me anymore? Even after everything I've done for you. Ungrateful brats."

"It's not like that sensei. I meant as a training trip to the woods to get the finishing touches on my training before the finals."

The white haired sannin smiled at how his student had the guts to become stronger. "Knowing you, you'll probably go no matter what I say, but I have one condition.

"What is it?"

"You get some different clothes. Orange is fine and all but it doesn't say 'powerful ninja'. Instead it screams 'Target me, I'm easy prey!"

"If I had different clothes, I'd wear them. The villagers never let me in their stores so I've made due with this pair. The only reason I even have these is because of Teuchi and Ayame. They were a gift from ossan and nee-chan has been lengthening them so they wouldn't be too small. I guess the orange color kinda grew on me though." the blonde chuckled from the last bit.

Jiraiya scowled at how the villagers treated his godson. "I'm glad your fashion sense isn't trash" the hermit anime style cried again. "But I've seen your other clothes. Where'd you get them?"

"My jiji" Naruto smiled at the thought of one of his precious people.

The toad sage nodded at his young pupils affectionate term for the hokage. "One more thing, I give you a seal so I can find you if something happens or you get in trouble"

"I guess I can agree to that."

Quickly drawing a basic seal on a small piece of paper, he handed it to Naruto. Jiraiya explained that the seal allowed him to know the general location the blonde was in, and that if he happened to get in trouble he'd just have to channel some chakra into the seal and he'd know where to go immediately. "So when do you want to go?"

"As soon as I can. I want to get as much done as I can."

"Then we should go get your new gear now."

Quickly getting ready, the two shinobi got packed and headed back to Konoha to get Naruto his new stuff.

**Konoha**

Walking among the many shops in the market district, Naruto and Jiraiya searched for a place they could get the gear the young blonde needed for his training in the woods. Jiraiya took note of the scowls people gave the kid, no doubt over him holding the kyuubi. They were lucky his mother wasn't alive, because if she saw even one of those looks they gave, they'd learn that she wasn't nicknamed the Bloody Habanero for nothing. He shuddered at the fate the villagers would suffer from the blondes eccentric mother, knowing that "hold back" was not in the redheads vocabulary.

Naruto quickly found a store that sold the gear he needed and entered along with his sensei.

Inside, there was a man that seemed to be in his early fifties. He wore a brown vest and leather pants. He was covered in ash and his face was red. He was obviously a blacksmith. Hearing the bell he greeted the two in a friendly voice until his eyes fell upon Naruto. They quickly darkened and, Using the strength of a hardened blacksmith, grabbed him by his collar and heaved him out the door. "How dare you! Do I have to tell you again!? Stay out and away from my store!" He finished by spitting a large loogie at the young boy, which smacked him right between the eyes. Naruto stood back up and jumped to the rooftops to flee.

The man walked back into the store with a look of accomplishment on his face. Looking towards Jiraiya and using the tone you'd expect of a clerk, he said "Now, how may I help you sir?" completely oblivious to the shock, horror and anger that was on his face.

Using his hair, he lifted the blacksmith into the air, using as much killing intent as he could produce, he all but shouted at the man "How dare you. That boy is a shinobi and deserves to be treated as such!"

Almost pissing himself from the pure killing intent, the man looked at the enraged toad sage. Mustering as much courage as he could without finishing the deed of pissing himself, he spoke, "You must be new around here, but I'll let you know something. That boy, is not normal. I don't know what kind of genjutsu he trapped you with, but he would sooner kill everyone around him than be nice."

Jiraiya scoffed at the mans attitude, but decided that simply killing the man wouldn't solve anything. Dropping the man with a thud. "Be glad that my loyalty to Konoha is stronger than my hatred for villagers like you. Otherwise you would not have survived this, But I'll give you some advice of my own. Be wary of who you anger."

With this, the now furious toad sage walked out of the store to search for his student. The shopkeeper looked towards his pants and saw that he did in fact piss his pants.

**With Naruto**

Naruto was sitting on a bench in the park while all this happened, gently weeping tears. He felt alone, more alone than he had before he became a genin. The shopkeepers spiteful words had brought reality crashing down on him. All this time, he thought he had been gaining peoples trust and love. Rather, they seemed as though they hated him more. Looking up at the nearby playground, he saw children with their families, being loved and not having a care in the world. Narutos heart brightened, if only a little. At least there were kids that had a happier life than him. It hurt knowing he wouldn't know the love of a family though.

Meanwhile, Naruto's new occupant watched everything in sadness. But he held pride in the boys conviction. He could see that the young child felt happiness for other peoples fortune. It brought him joy that even though the orange wearing ninja was treated as a pariah, he didn't hold any resent for the innocent. "You've passed the test Naruto and I have no doubt that you can surpass me." Roku thought to himself.

Naruto continued shedding tears, though there were less now. The sadness was slowly wearing off. "N-n-naruto-kun?" a worried voice said. Looking up he saw a girl with blue hair and white eyes. She had a shinobi headband draped around her neck. Her pants were a mix between blue and purple and her oversized vest was beige with white fur at the base. She gently poked her fingers together from shyness, but seeing Naruto cry made her forget her shyness when she approached him, though it was quickly returning.

"Hinata? What are you doing here?"

"I was walking towards home when I saw you sitting here. You looked sad and thought you could use someone to talk to." Hinata began to blush, thinking about having an actual conversation with Naruto.

"Thanks Hinata, that means a lot to me"

"Besides, I never got to thank you for encouraging me in my fight with Neji-neesan."

Naruto lightly blushed from the appreciation and replied "They were only words, the strength you used was your own. Even if you didn't win, I see you as a success, you gave it your all and that's what matters." Naruto looked up and saw that Hinata had left. Looking to the side he saw a hastily written note and looked it over.

_Sorry for running off, I remembered I had something to do at home and didn't have a chance to say farewell. Good luck in your training. I know you'll try your hardest and won't give up. And I will do the same._

_-Sincerely, Hinata Hyuuga_

Naruto looked over the note and smiled at the Hyuuga's determination, but one thought crossed his mind. "Hinata's a strange girl"

**Hinata****'s POV**

Hinata was on her way home when she heard the sound of sobbing. Looking towards the sound, she saw a blonde haired boy wearing an orange jumpsuit. Immediately recognizing him as Naruto, she grew a blush on her face. She then saw the tears staining his face. Deciding that he might need some help right now she walked to him and tried to start a conversation.

A few minutes later, her shyness caught up and, while he was giving her encouragement, she quickly wrote down a small not and left it next to him. She even surprised herself at how quickly she wrote the note down and ran away. It took all of her willpower to talk with Naruto. If only she could get over her shyness like how the blonde overcame whatever challenge he was confronted with.

Hinata rushed home and quickly rushed to her room. Upon reaching her bed she fainted. The young Hyuuga was lucky to hold off fainting for nearly as long as she did.

**Back With Naruto**

Naruto was feeling a bit comforted at Hinata's words. At least some people cared. And the blonde was going to protect all of his precious people. With renewed dedication, Naruto stood up and pumped his fist into the air. He began looking for his sensei. But his search was cut short as Jiraiya turned the corner and, seeing Naruto, ran to him.

"Hey kid, how are you feelin'."

"I've felt better but I'm motivated to get stronger to protect my precious people."

"I'm glad to see how easily you can forget a grudge. That's an attribute anyone should be proud to have." Naruto's eyes gleamed at this. "But I didn't think you'd rebound this quickly. What happened?"

"Hinata-chan came and talked to me for a bit, but she suddenly disappeared. She left a note that said she had somewhere to be, I think it had something to do with her face turning red. Could she have a fever or something?"

Jiraiya chuckled at his students inability to see that the young Hyuuga liked him. Deciding to change the subject, he spoke "Now, we have to get to business. You still want to go training, right?" The young shinobi nodded his head vigorously. "Then let's go get your gear"

**About an hour later**

Naruto was looking over the things he had gotten. They had gone back to the store and the shopkeeper had nearly pissed his pants again at the sight of the two returning shinobi. When the blonde saw that the man looked terrified, he was confused but decided that his teacher had really scared the man to the next level.

The ninja had gotten new clothes. His clothes were mostly the same with different colors. It was now black where the orange had been and orange where the blue was. His collar and shoes were also black. He also had a small array of weapons he wanted to practice with. These included kunai, shuriken, a bo staff, 2 medium length swords, and a katana.

He had also gotten a few books. (Roku recommended that he get a few and, deciding that Roku had a plan for them, Naruto had gotten some books that seemed interesting) These books included a beginning level fuinjutsu book, a book on how to meditate, a few notebooks on tactics and strategy, some diagrams on human anatomy, a book on how to create jutsus, one was on how to make use of large chakra reserves and the final book was a rather basic looking fictional story. It was dusty, as though it hadn't even been looked at in a long time.

As Naruto and Jiraiya neared the city gates, they decided to stop at Ichirakus to get Naruto his last meal before his trip. They sat at the ramen stand for a little while while conversing with the two ramen sellers that were like family to Naruto. While they sat, Kakashi came in and sat next to the blonde.

"Why are you here Kakashi-sensei?"

"Well I was walking on the path of life when I saw you and Jiraiya eating here."

Naruto sweatdropped. The masked ninja used that line for more than just an excuse for being late. "Practicing for when you get finally make it to where Sasuke is?"

Now it was Kakashi's turn to sweatdrop. Naruto had just guessed his reason perfectly. "So what's the occasion?"

"I'm going on a two week training trip in the woods."

The small group of people spent the next ten or so minutes catching up. The ramen joint was on the slow end of business lately, and Naruto recommended they have sales for repeat customers

"You just want to get more bowls of ramen with what you already pay" Ayame tick-marked. Naruto's head dropped at this. "Though that might draw some more customers in. Alright kid, If business improves because of this, I'll buy you a bowl of miso ramen three times a week until business wears down again.

The ramen lover nearly jumped out of his seat in joy.

"If you ask Anko, she might let you train in the forest of death"

Naruto's face paled at the thought of returning to that hellhole of a forest. The young shinobi decided to quickly change the subject. "Don't you have someone to be meeting with, I doubt the teme will be happy if you show up late"

Now it was Kakashi's turn to adorn a scared face. Standing up quickly, Kakashi said his goodbyes and bolted towards his training area with Sasuke.

"Well, I should probably head out to the forest, I'll try to come straight here once I finish my training."

Teuchi and Ayame waved goodbye to the blonde as he departed.

**Forest**

Naruto walked between the many trees. The sunlight speckled the forest floor. The leaves a deep green in the canopy above. He was currently searching for a place to train. Roku had told him to find the most relaxing place he could, as it would aid in the training he would be doing. He kept walking deeper into the forest and found a pond with an island in the middle. There was a boulder resting in the middle with a large tree shading it. The tree was a mature willow, with a thick, lush canopy that let almost no light through. The pond itself had a slight current supplied by the small river that emptied into it. On the opposite side of the pond, a few small streams led away from the pond, keeping the water clean and fresh. Naruto scooped some of the water into his hand and tasted it. It was cold and enlivening. He could tell that the water was safe to drink, not that it'd matter with Kyuubi protecting him from most infections. Overall, the pond reminded him of Roku's room inside the mindscape.

"Roku, I think I've found it." Naruto said, mentally opening a connection to his inhabitant.

Looking through Naruto's eyes, Roku inspected the area. "This should do. Summon me out of the seal and I'll get it ready."

Naruto went through the handsigns for the kuchiyose no jutsu, channeling Roku's chakra into it. Slamming his hand down, the man flowed from the seal and materialized in front of him. He instantly took in his surroundings and wrote the kanjii for "watch" in the air. He then gently placed it on the edge between the water and soil. A dim light glowed from it and spread around the pond, completely surrounding it. It the began to make a dome, encompassing the island in the process. Once the dome was complete it shimmered out of view.

"What was that sensei?"

"That was a proximity barrier. It will alert me if anything comes within 25 yards of here. Let's go to the island and set up."

They walked across the water to the island. Roku walked to a place away from where Naruto would be training. He touched his thumb and ring finger together on his left hand then pushed it onto the ground. A few things sprouted from this. First what came out was two small posts of wood, no taller than Naruto. They then grew branches towards each other to create what looked like a natural hammock at about waist high. Roku quickly writing the kanji for "rest" on the bed he continued to one of the posts, which grew a branch that went away from the hammock. He went to this and used his ring finger to write the kanji for "water" on the end. From the other post, a desk seemed to sprout along with a bench, but he left it as it was.

Roku then walked a short distance away to the shore and touched his thumb to the ground. A small circle of rocks grew along with a small boulder next to it. He went to the circle and wrote "fire" in the center using his pointer finger. "Alright, we've got two weeks, so once you get settled we'll begin. While you unpack I'm going to go back to Konoha, read up on history and learn how life goes on nowadays. If I'm not back by the time you finish settling in, I want you to meditate and feel the world around you or read some of your books." With that, Roku henged into a random person. His rippled eyes were replaced with a light green, his hair was now brown and barely passed his ears. He also now had a light scar across his face from his left eye to his right cheekbone. Roku's clothes were a mesh tshirt along with some black shinobi pants. Overall he looked like a chunin in his off time. Once the henge was finished, he dematerialized into the air.

Naruto watched as his new sensei vaporized and guessed it was his method of travel. With that, he rushed to the hammock and placed his pack beneath it. He unloaded what he had in it, which included everything he got prior to leaving. Naruto hung the extra clothes he brought on a branch. He had also packed a few cup ramens, his pillow and blanket which he placed in the tree bed, and a few pictures. These included a picture of him and his jiji standing next to eachother back when Naruto was in the academy. Another was the one of team seven. The last picture was one of his most treasured pictures. It was of him and Jiraiya enjoying popsicles while they were resting back when he was doing water walking training. He placed these on the desk along with the books he brought.

Deciding he might as well begin meditating, Naruto walked to the boulder which was surprisingly warm despite being in the shade. Deciding to enjoy the warmth, the blonde got into a meditating posture on the large rock.

**With Roku**

The sage began to materialize on top of the hokage monument. Gazing out at the village, he warmly smiled in thought. He looked closely and saw a building that seemed to be a library, he did his materializing shunshin and appeared in front of it. Looking at the sign, he saw it was indeed the library. "Looks like I still have my ability to guess correctly." he thought to himself as he entered the building.

Inside, he saw rows upon rows of literature. He walked to a lady at the main desk that seemed to be making new labels for some books that were especially old. She had on a pair of reading glasses and had brunette hair. Her clothes seemed like what you'd expect in a labs break room, clean and crisp.

Deciding she might know of a book with plenty of history contained. "Hello, can you recommend a book with the most history, preferably with history from the time of the Rikudou Sennin. I want to read up on everything that I don't know."

Looking up from her work, she saw the henged Roku. Putting a finger to her chin, she thought of a book. "Well the giant book on the pedestal over there has records from about that time. It should take about a month to read though, there's a lot of information in it. But if you'd like something lighter, you can read the Clan Histories series in row H-12."

"The giant one will work, see ya in a minute," she looked at him as though he'd grown four more heads. Not even the fastest readers could read that in less than two weeks she had to see this. Sneaking away from the desk, she watched him walk up to the large book. It was easily three or four inches thick.

Roku walked up to the book and looked it over. It had to have at least two or three hundred year of history. This was going to hurt a bit. Channeling his human path and modifying it for the book, he touched his palm to the cover. Pulling his hand from the cover, what looked like a ghost stream of words flowed from it. Learning all of the information, he placed it back in the book. Once he finished, he dropped to a knee in reaction to all of the information. He flashed through many emotions from learning of wars, major jutsus, villages, clans, customs, people and many other things.

The bookkeeper watched this in awe. Never had she seen someone do that and she could only watch as he fell to a knee. Regaining herself, she rushed forward to help the strange man that seemed to be able to read almost instantly. She fought back a slight blush from the proximity of the man, but now wasn't the time for those thoughts, now was when he needed help. She leaned him against the nearby wall while she went behind her desk to get something to help. Resigning to her water bottle, she brought it to him to see that he was regaining consciousness.

"Sorry about that. It was a lot of information to take at once." Roku apologized with a slight grin.

"You should probably drink some water."

"It's not necessary, but thank you" He accepted the water bottle and poured some of it into his mouth. Enjoying the slight coldness of the fluid, he turned his attention to the woman in front of him, "I'm sorry to trouble you but you can remove your hand from my shoulder now."

The librarian turned a very bright red as she had not noticed her hand on his shoulder.

"Your hand is still on me." Roku smiled in slight embarrassment.

Quickly realizing that her hand had shifted to his chin instead of being removed, her face became an even deeper red and fainted. Chuckling at the woman's antics he swapped places with her, leaning the girl against the wall. He lightly touched a chakra point on her forehead to calm her down and reawaken her. Her eyes flickered open and saw that he was touching her forehead as her blush returned. Roku smiled and offered a hand to help her to her feet, which she graciously accepted.

"Sorry, but I must leave now. But can you tell me where the academy is?"

Shaking her her head to clear it of, perverse thoughts, she quickly told him that it was just down the street a little ways. "Do you think I'll be seeing you again?"

Turning towards her, he smiled at her, "You might, but I doubt it. I generally keep to myself and only appear from time to time" Her face saddened at this. She had hoped to meet the strange man again. "There is a chance though." With that he dematerialized.

"Wait, I still don't know your name!" the girl shouted at nothing. Giving up, she went back to her work.

**Academy**

Riku came together in front of the school for shinobi hopefuls. He smiled at the memories this stirred. Out of everyone he taught about how to use chakra, the young people were always the most enjoyable to teach. They weren't as motivated to learn, but showed guts and always livened up any lesson he gave. Changing his appearance to be more his own, but keeping his eyes henged to avoid any questions, he moved towards the building.

Walking into the structure, he saw a young man with a scar horizontally across the bridge of his nose.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"Yes, I was wondering if you'd let me see how you train your students, and maybe help out a bit." Roku asked the scarred lightly tanned person.

"I guess the kids will welcome the change of pace. I am Iruka, What do you want me to call you?"

"I am Roku. I can only stay for about half an hour. Is that acceptable?"

Iruka nodded in agreement to his question and led the way to his classroom. They arrived at the room and Iruka allowed Roku to enter first, displaying good manners. But he had forgotten that there was a prankster in this classroom and watched helplessly as a bucket of water and another with pencil shavings fell towards the newcomer. The class was about to break out in laughter when they stopped mid chuckle. Iruka's eyes widened as did the rest of his class at the sight of this.

Roku was standing there with a bubble of water full of pencil shavings floating above him. Lifting his hand up, he absorbed the water and the now, strangely dry pencil shavings swirled around him as if caught in a gust of wind, which blew all of it into a nearby trashcan. He looked out at the class in front of him and everyone became slightly scared just from his mere presence. Even the kids who were terrible at sensory skills felt it. But their surprise raised even more as the man in front of them did his next move. He walked up to one particular kid with very scared and guilty eyes and held out his fist. Taking the implication, the kid held out his fist and the two fist bumped.

"Nice job on the trap gaki. If it weren't me that sprung it, that would have been an amazing prank."

The young boys eyes widened at the praise. No one had ever congratulated his pranks before, and the fear that was in his eyes was now filled with admiration for the man in front of him. Clearing his throat, Iruka announced the man in front of them as Roku.

"We're going to work on your chakra control today, so everyone follow me and we'll go outside to work on it." Iruka announced.

Outside, all of the kids got a leaf and worked on sticking it to their foreheads. Most weren't that good at it. Roku saw that many of the children weren't doing very good and none seemed very motivated. Deciding to spark their interest he walked up the trunk. This got all of the young ones attention. Many of their jaws dropped as they didn't know that was even possible. He continued walking and got to a large branch. Instead of avoiding it, like many of the kids expected, he put his foot on it and proceeded to walk upside down. This got the kids excited and one asked Iruka how he did that. Roku answered instead from where he was sitting upside down with his hair hanging upwards, saying that it was all possible because of his chakra control.

This got the kids fired up and many instantly started to try harder than they were earlier, and soon more than half could keep a leaf on their forehead. Some were even going as far as sticking two or three to themselves. Their teacher watched how quickly the kids got into their training.

As all of them were training Roku jumped down to where Iruka was. The scarred man could only stand and watch, "If you show them an awesome level of what they're doing, they'll try harder."

"But won't they try to do that straightaway instead of going training the lower level techniques first?"

"If you make a point that they need solid basics to do the higher level jutsus, then they mostly won't try to skip ahead. But the kids that do skip ahead, they'll learn the hard way that their basics are necessary. When either the jutsu blows up in their face or when they see everyone surpassing them quicker, they'll realize that they should practice their basics. But that doesn't mean that some of your students won't pull of the high level technique, and if they do, you give them praise and help them improve upon it." Iruka nodded in understanding, "What are the requirements to graduate from the academy?"

Iruka adorned a puzzled face then answered, "They have to be able to execute the substitution jutsu, a bunshin technique and a henge."

"That doesn't seem like they are learning that much, aren't there requirements for chakra control or kunai accuracy" Iruka shook his head, "What about being able to use a few jutsus of their natural affinity" again Iruka shook his head in a negative "What about a personal summon?" Iruka began to look a bit ashamed of how low quality the academies training was. "I think that they should at least be able to summon a partner. Do you mind if I teach them?"

"My ass will be chewed by all of my superiors, but you obviously know what you're talking about."

"I am going to have them do a summon selection that not many people do. Have you ever heard about how Jiraiya summoned himself to the land of the toads and signed a contract" (he had taken a peek at the hermits memories while he was passed out)

"You don't mean that you're going to have them summon themselves to a place that they've never been to before. What will I tell their parents if they don't come back"

"Don't worry about them not coming back, I'll travel with them myself. I have ten minutes until I must leave, so I can only take one today. I'll be back tomorrow morning to get the rest of the class their summons"

"I guess that's okay. Who are you going to take with you."

"I will take the prankster today"

"Are you sure he should have a summon? He'll probably use them for pranks"

"I hope he does. Some summons enjoy pranksters as summoners. Monkeys, foxes and hyenas are a few, though I doubt anyone here will get the foxes since the one that chooses who can summon them is not well known for being nice to people."

Iruka nodded in understanding "If you say so, the kid who tried to prank you was Konohamaru, the Hokage's grandson. But can you tell me how you can go with him?"

"Hold on tight" Roku said with a playful smile. Directing his voice to the kids he called, "Konohamaru, come talk with me"

The Sarutobi looked worried. Was it time for the scolding from trying to pull a prank? He reluctantly walked to Roku and asked what he wanted. "We are going to get you a summoning contract. Are you ready for a quick journey?"

"I'm ready for anything!" He cheered.

Showing Konohamaru the handsigns, he grabbed onto his shoulders and held tight while the student repeated the handsigns. Slamming his hand onto the ground he disappeared in a burst of smoke, along with Roku.

**With Naruto**

The ninja was sitting on top of the rock with his eyes closed, trying to meditate. "UGHHH, THIS IS SO BORING!" He cursed. Looking over at his small pile of books, he decided he'd get more done reading those than being bored. "Never thought I'd ever read willingly" Naruto thought to himself. Picking up the book on meditating, he began to study, or at least try to study. Five minutes later, he was already banging his head on the natural desk, leaving a slight divot.

**In a Random Jungle**

Konohamaru had somehow summoned himself to land upside down, thus making him and Roku land on their heads. Though Roku was able to roll out of it avoiding any damages. The same couldn't be said about the academy student, who's head had taken all of his weight.

Falling to his chest, Konohamaru looked up to see the jungle overhead. It was lush and full of color. Birds and bugs, large and small, brightly colored and dully colored filled the surrounding area. Roku rose to his feet lightly rubbing his head.

"Looks like your summoning affinity is for monkeys. Welcome to the Ape Kingdom. We can't be here for long, but I promise you'll be coming back many more times." Roku offered his hand to the young Sarutobi to help him to his feet.

Before they could move, twelve rather large apes, all about shoulder height with primitive looking armor and weapons surrounded them. A thirteenth ape showed up and it towered over everyone present. Wearing a tiger-stripe kimono top without sleeves over it's black suit and mesh armor. The kimono top was held together by a deep red sash. It had long white hair that reached down its back, long white sideburns and a goatee on its face, and on its forehead was a Konoha hitai-ite. "Welcome to our realm Konohamaru and sage"

Roku chuckled inwardly. Leave it to a sage to sense another sage.

"Hey monkey king Jiji, how's it been." Hiruzen had introduced the two together from time to time, and over the years their relationship was much like an uncle and nephew.

"All is well here. But I have a feeling that a casual talk isn't why you're here. You finally wish to sign the monkey contract don't you. And I take it that you used the traditional way of choosing." Pulling out a scroll, Enma activated a seal that made it grow to its normal size which was about his height. "I know that you're worthy of summoning my kind. Taking into account your families relationship with the monkeys and my own personal experiences with you, I hereby grant you permission to call upon us. I trust that you will be all that a monkey summoner is required to be." He place the scroll on the ground and unrolled it in front of the soon-to-be summoner, who's eyes glistened with happiness.

Seeing the previous signatures and fingerprints, Konohamaru kneeled down in front of the next free space. "Sign there with your blood and then place your fingerprints there." After he slowly and deliberately did what he was told, Enma spoke again "You're now an official monkey summoner. Bring pride to us and remember that even monkeys fall from trees, never be ashamed to ask for help."

With gleaming eyes, Konohamaru nodded in elation. "When can I begin training to work together with the monkeys?"

"Right to business eh? Can't say I blame you." A medium sized female monkey with an abnormally long tail dropped beside the king of primates. She wore a deep red vest long with deep blue leggings. "Otaka here will assist you in training. Whenever there is a specific monkey you want to summon, mentally picture the one you want while you perform the technique. It shouldn't take to long to get it right."

Roku nodded, but fell into a fit of coughing. Quickly analyzing what was happening, he spoke, "It has been a pleasure being in your domain, but I have to go. Let's go Konohamaru, you'll be meeting the monkeys many more times, but if I don't get the remedy for this soon, I'll start to literally fall apart." _"__Seems like my time limit at the moment is only about an hour and twenty minutes"_ he thought to himself.

Seeing the seriousness on the mans face, Konohamaru said his goodbyes and said he was ready to head back. Quietly thanking the Sarutobi for his understanding, Roku focused his chakra and the two dematerialized, scattering like dust in the wind.

**Academy**

Iruka was helping Udon with using his chakra to hold a small pebble on his forehead when what seemed to be a massive amount of dust began to come together in the middle of the field. As it continued to form together, he saw that two figures were appearing from it. Before he knew it, Roku and Konohamaru were standing there. The younger of the two had a prideful smile on his face, while the man looked to be in discomfort. "Are you alright Roku-san?"

"I've been better. I'll be better once I get home and rest. Konohamaru now holds a summoning contract with the monkeys. If you can, will you request the changes to the academies curriculum that I suggested."

"I'll see what I can do. Get better and we all are looking forward to your return" with that all of the kids said goodbye in unison.

Smiling, Roku disappeared as everyone heard a sound much like thunder, only extremely quiet.

**With Naruto (_while Roku was just entering the academy_)**

Naruto was reading the book on tactics, not really understanding it very well. He let his head drop to the desk with a thud again. There was now a divot the shape of his forehead imbedded into the desk as a result of the countless times he hit his head on it. On the desk were all of the books he had brought. He had tried to read at least one of them, but couldn't get past the first chapter and, in some cases, the first paragraph. They just couldn't grab the blondes attention and the ones he was interested in, he couldn't figure out half of the things written. He was about to resign to the last book he had brought. It was the fictional story but he thought it'd be more interesting to read than the other ones. Picking it up in front of him, he read the cover. "Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi" he read out loud to himself "By Jiraiya... Wait what? I didn't know that pervert wrote an actual book and not just the stuff Kakashi-sensei reads"

Deciding to see how good the story actually was, he wiped off the remaining dust and began to read.

About half an hour later, Roku appeared on the island with a spark of lightning. "Ahh it's nice to change my travel methods from time to time" he thought to himself as he entered another fit of coughing. He quickly walked to Naruto and vaporized into the seal. "You all settled in here?" he asked Naruto using a mental link to communicate with him. 

**I'll try to start lengthening the chapters, since the main complaint was that they weren't long enough. Sorry about the long updates. I'll try to release chapters faster as we get deeper into the story. Until next time.**


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